by Brittney Pless | May 7, 2024 | Blog, Letters from our Executive Director
Like many people I know, I spent many hours as a child “playing school” in my basement. Occasionally I had to be the student while my younger sister bossed me around, but mostly, I was the teacher. Looking back, there were a shocking number of unruly imaginary...
by Believe in Students | Apr 1, 2024 | Blog, Letters from our Executive Director
Dear Friend: We are in an extraordinarily challenging time for higher education. In 2020, the pandemic helped shed light on the issues we have long known are true: the increase in the price of college for students and the accompanying rise in basic needs insecurity...
by Believe in Students | Feb 29, 2024 | Blog
I was a young child when Black History Month came to national consciousness. I remember my dad using the opportunity to teach me, barely in school, about the history of Black achievement and leadership in this country. As an Iowan, I learned about George Washington...
by Believe in Students | Feb 28, 2024 | Blog
There are many aspects of Black History Month that I hold close to my heart. However, a couple stand out, especially as I reflect on how often I am the only Black person in many of the professional spaces I occupy. First, I am profoundly moved by the purposeful,...
by Believe in Students | Oct 31, 2023 | Blog
Although I concede that everyone’s life is unique, those who know me well would agree that my upbringing was a little extraordinary. I belong to an average middle class family, the mother of which was a nurse at the local hospital, the father of which was a...
by Believe in Students | Oct 31, 2023 | Blog
Dearest Professors, I am writing the following letter to you because I owe you the gift of communicated knowledge.You have been gracious, understanding, ingenious, and inventive in a time of great uncertainty and upheaval. You have done your very best to pivot, adapt,...
